N/A if no listing available from xmltv file

[jksmurf]

I think my grabber partially does this. Certainly one channel always shows "no schedule" between midnight and 6 am and they don't show thetext "No Schedule" on their web page, so it must be my grabber adding it. On Another channel I do get blanks though. Fugly blue ones :-)

k.
[EDIT]btw I can get rid of the blue blanks by reducing the TVXB "schedulefiller" parameter to a smaller number than the default 30 mins.

[nemulate]

Yes no schedule would be good! As I'm using the Birtles grabber in the uk I'll try asking the author to add this as an option (Unless of course it would be fairly simple for sub to add?) . As for the other point about off air channels not being scanned, like I said seems strange as other STB devices do pick them up even when off air.

[jksmurf]

I'll try asking the author to add this as an option

Show him this from TVXB :p

k.

[nemulate]

Just noticed 'Birty' is a member on here so hopefully if I ask nicely

[martint123]

EPG related but slightly different.
Who/How do we request/kick to get XML listing providers to include extra channels. I'm thinking of Sky channels in the UK - TCM2 and Movies24, both non-premium channels. They're on the Sky EPG, but there's no way to extract that. Any thoughts of a source??

Martin

[nemulate]

Have posted a message on Aan Birtles forum to request 'No listing' or 'non available' as a post processor for channels with no programme detail.

[jksmurf]

EPG related but slightly different. Who/How do we request/kick to get XML listing providers to include extra channels. I'm thinking of Sky channels in the UK - TCM2 and Movies24, both non-premium channels. They're on the Sky EPG, but there's no way to extract that. Any thoughts of a source??Martin

martin, I'm not sure if you are able to manually set up your xml using your grabber, but that's exactly what I do with TVXB. Country specific .ini's are provided, but you can add or delete as many channels as you wish. Deleting is easy. Provided you know the on-line channel url (and you might need to work out a little bit about the code tags that are used) you can extract the channel listings from the web-sites.

k.

[martint123]

martin, I'm not sure if you are able to manually set up your xml using your grabber, but that's exactly what I do with TVXB. Country specific .ini's are provided, but you can add or delete as many channels as you wish. Deleting is easy. Provided you know the on-line channel url (and you might need to work out a little bit about the code tags that are used) you can extract the channel listings from the web-sites.

k.

I've had a scout around and the only listings I can see online are in PDF formatted like a newsletter. This from the channel owners web site. Not a lot of use to man nor beast. (sigh) http://www.tcm2.co.uk/

[jksmurf]

I've had a scout around and the only listings I can see online are in PDF formatted like a newsletter. This from the channel owners web site. Not a lot of use to man nor beast. (sigh) http://www.tcm2.co.uk/

You said they were on sky, who host TCM2 in the UK, here right? Movies 24 listings are here.

Only between 19:00 and 23:00? I should imagine TVXB "might" be able to get that info. Let me have a little play around with an .ini and see where I can get. Problem is TVXB will produce another XML, and you can only assign one XML to one tuner. (TVXB can merge two XMLs though) So I am not 100% sure how/if this will work, but you might have to assign the tuner again with those as two extra channels. Provided no channel is repeated the tuner won't (shouldn't) know.


k.

[jksmurf]

OK Martin, some good news (I hope).

I had a little play around with TVXB and used both these links that I found for UK listings of the two channels to which you referred.

Movies24 listings
New Post with TCM2 Listings Link

Now, TVXB website kindly recommends using Birtles Radio Times program first, then to use TVXB to add additional channels, which is precisely what I have done here. You will need to download and install a copy of TVXB http://www.tvxb.com.

I just use the ZIPPED version (marked Linux, but you can ignore that), because I can then put it anywhere I like, and the author follows VISTA's rules for directories, for Vista Beta 2. I presume however that the installer works fine on WinXP.

I attach TWO TVXB ini files. You only need to use one of the following TWO options and for each the corresponding example file MUST be renamed Tvxb.ini. It must be placed in PATH\TVXB\ini\ where PATH= C:\Program Files\TVXB or wherever you installed TVXB (e.g C:\Utils\TVXB).

In both ini's the days=7 parameter downloads 7 days of listings. TCM2 only has 7 days worth, but Movie24 seems to go on longer, about 3 weeks. Simply add a days=X in the individual channel section of the ini and it will override the global days limit (7) for that channel only (but will also take slightly longer).

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OPTION 1: The Birtles program merges the TVXB-generated XML with the main Radio Times channels.

The first ini TVxb.ini_TCM2_plus_Movies24_Downloads_Only only downloads the listing for the two channels and generates an XML file for you in the directory of your choice. I made this ini initially just to test whether the download works (it seems to). You must edit this ini so that the line:

xmltvoutput=C:\Program Files\XMLTV GUI\TVXBxmltv.xml

(a few lines down from the top) is directed to the xmloutput directory of your choice e.g. if you want to put it into TVXB default XML output dir (which must exist), that line would like this

xmltvoutput=C:\Program Files\TVXB\xml\TVXBxmltv.xml

After I downloaded and tried Birtles' excellent grabber, I realised it has an XMLTV import function, so this may be of great use to you. What you can do is import XML files from other sources e.g. the TVXBxmltv.xml you just made with TVXB. I tested this and it seems to work. All good stuff.

What you need to do is in Birtles XMLTV GUI, Tools, Settings, Grabbers, place a "check" in the box beside XMLTV Import (in addition to your default one(s)). Then click the line XMLTV Import and choose settings. Browse to C:\Program Files\TVXB\xml\TVXBxmltv.xml and choose OK. This file will then merge with the Birtles XML file when Birtles is run.

To automate the TVXB update simply set up a scheduled task to run the tvxb.exe app once a day. It will call TVXB.ini, which will generate the required TVXB XML file. The Birtles grabber (which I will presume is already scheduled) should be scheduled to run AFTER the TVXB update, will merge the two XML files.

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OPTION 2: TVXB merges the two channels with a Birtles-generated main XML.

The second ini Tvxb.ini_TCM2_plus_Movies24_Downloads_Plus_Merges_with_Birtles.txt downloads the Radio Times listings, then generates XML listings for the two channels, then merges these to a single file GBPVR can use.

As far as I can make out, Birtles grabber produces an XML called data.xml. TVXB can merge data.xml and e.g. TVXBxmltv.xml to make a merged file (e.g. MERGEDxmltv.xml) with the name of your choice. Note that this merged xml must be the xml that you now point GBPVR to in the Capture Config Tab.

To make the merge run (as per TVXB instructions) you must make a new file (right click new text file e.g.) called prepost (NO extension) and place it in the \Tvxb\bin directory. Like I said, just make a txt file called prepost.txt and then remove the .txt extension. All it does is tell TVXB to allow pre-commands to be run.

Edit this TVXB.ini so that the line matches where you installed XMLTV GUI.

xmltvoutput=C:\Program Files\XMLTV GUI\TVXBxmltv.xml

You can also change the output XML MERGEDxmltv.xml to any path and name of your choice.

Note that the TVXB precommand will ONLY run from the TVXB\bin folder (I found this out by looking in the log). I got around this by making a batch file XmltvBatch.bat, which has the following line in it:

"C:\Program Files\XMLTV GUI\xmltvgui.exe" /Grab

i.e. it calls the Birtles Grabber. The TVXB.ini calls the batch file as follows

precommand="C:\Program Files\TVXB\bin\XmltvBatch.bat".

You will need to put the attached XmltvBatch.bat file in TVXB\bin if you use this method.

Another alternative is to install Birtles to the TVXB\bin directory so that xmltvgui.exe is in the TVXB\bin dir by default but this is very very messy and not recommended.

The above assumes Birtles v3.xx is used. TVXB still refers to the older 2.xx dirs. If you happen to still use the older one, in the batch file XmltvBatch.bat, replace:

"C:\Program Files\XMLTV GUI\xmltvgui.exe" /Grab by "C:\Program Files\XMLTV Radio Times\xmltvrt.exe" /Grab

Again, to automate the TVXB update simply set up a WinXP scheduled task to run the Tvxb.exe app once a day. It will call TVXB.ini, which will generate the required TVXB XML file AND merge in the Birtles XML file.

================================================
Automating TVXB Scheduling:

Make a batch file called TVXB.bat and place the following line in it:

start /d "C:\Program Files\TVXB\bin\" TVXB.exe -NoConsole

This will "silently" call TVXB, without a command window and no TVXB console. If you want to watch it work, remove the start /d and -No console commands, however the tvxb/log directory will tell you what happened in any case.

=================================================
Birtles Grabber SETUP (if you haven't already):

Presumably you will need to set up Birtles grabber ONCE manually via the GUI so the basic channels you want are stored in a settings file. I see that the Birtles Grabber is normally setup in the updateEPG.bat as per this thread.

If you use Option 2 you can probably remove (just rem it out by placing rem in the line before the command) the Birtles Grabber call-up in that updateEPG.bat as it will now be updated by TVXB calling it.

For XML Import (Option 1 only) refer the instructions in Option 1 above.
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Attached Channel LOGOS for TCM2 and MOVIE24

Place the attached channel logos (attached JPG's) in

C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\media\ChannelLogos

As long as the logo names are the same as the channel names in the EPG, the logo should show up.
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Remarks:
1. I have posted an example of what you should see with TCM2 and Movies24 visible. BBC1 and BBC2 were downloaded by Birtles.
2. TVXB will need some fine-tuning. I noticed that TCM2 displays the date and time and channel in the description. [FIXED]. Also updated TVXB.ini files. Just had to modify the descriptionhtmlstart= line to descriptionhtmlstart=tvguidesynopsis2. You can have a go at how to work this out by (in Internet Explorer) choosing "View Source" when you are viewing the web-page with the listing and show description. You will see a bunch of html tags like "<" and ">". I just chose the unique text just next to the actual synopsis.
3. TVXB might need some more fine-tuning. The very first "No schedule" (TCM2 only has evening schedules) displays the TVXB copyright disclaimer as the program description, probably to do with the merge. All subsequent ones appear to be OK.
4. TCM2 has a lot of "no schedules" (7pm to midnight only), but the show before and after midnight appears to erroneously continue until 7pm the next day. This is a glitch I need to look at. The quick "Easy to view" Sky TV guide only lists the program START time, (no duration, no end time) so TVXB simply cannot know the end time; as such it (correctly) chooses 19:00 the next day! This issue might be solved by using the url from the Enhanced TV Guide. As I am not a customer, I cannot log on to test this.
5. The ini for Movie24 is not working well at all. It just repeats the first day. This may be due to javascript rather than html. Do not consider reliable at present.
6. I'm also having a go at improving Movie24 full descriptions, genre, category etc. fields. Currently only the shortened version of the description as shown on the "by day" web pages are shown. If I'm successful, I'll update the ini's in the zip file. TCM2 cannot currently be improved due to use of the "Easy to view" schedule.
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Sorry for the long post. HTH and doesn't confuse the stripes off your zebra.

Cheers,
k.

[EDIT]Updated ini files. Refer later post for description.
[EDIT2]Sky's Page has changed completely. TCM2 now available on a new link (as above).
btw, kudos goes to the TVXB developer, to whom I have no affiliation or relationship, save for the fact we live in the same town, and whom I have never met.